In the repair and reconstruction of streets and highways, it is typically necessary to remove the existing concrete and prepare the underlying surface for new concrete. The process for breaking up hardened concrete is typically quite time consuming, thereby slowing down the entire reconstruction project.
Prior art apparatus for breaking up concrete includes large high density balls which are dropped on the concrete to break it in small pieces, and "guillotines" which utilize a heavy weight with a sharpened lower end which is driven downwardly by gravity on a pair of rails to drive a wedge into the concrete. When a guillotine is used, the wedge must typically be dropped a number of times in order to effect the splitting and breaking apart of the concrete. Other methods available for breaking concrete include the use of jack hammers and the like. Again, such apparatus and methods are typically very slow.